Chapter 117

"You dare forge military orders?!"

"Your son does not dare!"

Having been shouted at by Zhu Di, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen immediately, without a second thought, cried out loudly to Fan Zhong:

"General Fan, retreat!"

The three hundred soldiers of the Imperial Vanguard under Fan Zhong immediately clustered behind Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, following their commander.

Once again, they skillfully broke contact with Yesen's forces.

They retreated southward at maximum speed.

Yesen's brows knitted tightly as he stared fixedly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen fleeing into the distance, his jaw clenching involuntarily.

"Continue the pursuit; do not stop!"

Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür looked at Yesen with some caution and said:

"Brother, something feels wrong about this; should we not wait a moment first?"

Yesen gritted his teeth and whispered:

"Pursue! Do not stop!"

"Yes!"

Following Yesen's command, the steppe cavalry behind him spurred their horses forward to chase once more.

By this time, the scale of the pursuit on the steppe had expanded to over a thousand men.

The thundering hooves of over a thousand warhorses exploded across the grassland like rolls of thunder.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's face was deathly pale.

The historical records never mentioned that warfare was conducted like this!

However, just as Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen finally caught sight of the Great Wall in the distance,

Zhang Fu, the Duke of Ying, led two thousand cavalry charging boldly to meet them head-on.

Emperor Yingzong, the Wise:

"Great-Grandfather, surely this is enough; has your son not completed his task as bait?"

Zhu Di, his face gloomy, snorted coldly:

"It is not finished yet! With only this many enemies, you think you can run?"

"Without My decree, no one may leave!"

"Even if you must die, you shall die on the battlefield!"

Stung by Zhu Di's furious rebuke,

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen immediately lost all spirit to argue.

At this moment, Yesen's reinforcements had also arrived.

By this point, Yesen commanded nearly four thousand troops.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen had merely two thousand three hundred men at his side.

Countless warriors had already fallen dead beside Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen.

Yet Zhu Di continued to repeatedly order Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen to stand his ground on the battlefield.

From a distance, Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür spotted Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen clad in vermilion dragon robes.

"Brother, let me go capture the Great Ming Emperor for you!"

With that, Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür led a unit of Kheshig cavalry and, taking Fan Zhong by surprise, shot forward like an arrow straight toward Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen.

Zhang Fu, observing from afar, sensed the danger and immediately drew a three-barreled firelock, igniting its fuse.

"Bang~!"

"Bang~!"

"Bang~!"

"..."

Accompanied by the three reports of the firelocks,

Zhang Fu immediately shouted loudly:

"Follow me to protect the Sovereign!"

The personal guards behind him immediately responded in unison:

"Yes!"

Immediately, a cavalry unit of over a hundred men, each wielding a three-barreled firelock, lit their fuses and charged after Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür in the distance.

By this time, Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür was already within striking distance of Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen!

From not far away, Yesen also shouted loudly to Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür:

"There is no need to take him alive; killing him on the spot is acceptable!"

"Yes!"

Before Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen could even react,

in an instant, he heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air before his eyes.

The horseman's saber in Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür's hand was already striking toward Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's face.

Just as Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen closed his eyes awaiting death,

a crisp "Clang!" rang out.

The three-barreled firelock in Zhang Fu's hand, like an iron hammer, was firmly braced before Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen,

blocking Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür's most lethal strike.

Having his blow blocked, Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür showed not the slightest hesitation.

He immediately retreated backward.

One strike failing, he withdrew at once.

This was the very tactic Genghis Khan once used to sweep across the world!

After Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür withdrew, the accompanying Kheshig imperial guards also retreated one after another.

However, they did not go far.

Instead, they spurred their horses into a gallop nearby.

Like starving wolves that had spotted prey, they fixed their gaze on Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen.

Upon noticing the gazes of Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür and the others,

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's composure completely collapsed.

"Zhang Fu! My great-grandfather has ordered us to withdraw!"

"Hurry and retreat!"

With that, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen wheeled his horse around.

Just as Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen prepared to bolt for his life,

he was firmly seized by Zhang Fu.

Tears instantly welled up in Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's eyes.

"Zhang Fu! You disobey My command, and do you also disobey my great-grandfather's command? My grandfather truly said to withdraw!"

Even Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang in the chat group exploded in outrage.

The High Emperor Taizu:

"Bullshit!"

"I've been listening the whole time; how come I didn't hear Old Fourth tell you to scram?"

"Old Fourth, aren't you going to do anything?"

Zhu Di didn't even lift his eyelids, smiling as he said,

"Father, it's fine, no need to interfere."

Just as Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen issued orders urging a retreat,

Zhang Fu couldn't help but smile and say,

"Your Majesty, stop struggling."

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen looked at Zhang Fu in shock and said,

"Do you intend to regicide?"

Zhang Fu smiled bitterly and said,

"His Majesty the Emperor declared that I am the final reinforcement, ordering us to hold our ground until he arrives in person; therefore, we will not retreat."

Hearing Zhang Fu's words, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang in the group chat, however, could not help but burst out laughing.

Emperor Taizu:

"Good lad, you are indeed cunning; you even calculated this?"

Emperor Emperor Emperor Emperor Chengzu:

"Father, there is no other way; our descendants are unworthy. Since he will not save face, we ancestors must help him save it."

Zhang Fu guarded tightly beside Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen.

He immediately raised Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's arm and shouted loudly,

"The Son of Heaven is here! Generals, do not panic! Fight with all your might!"

Looking at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, who was surrounded in the center by the Ming troops,

the surrounding two thousand-plus Ming soldiers instantly fought with renewed vigor, as if injected with chicken blood.

Zhang Fu reined in his horse and whispered,

"Your Majesty, do you see it?"

"To the soldiers, you are Heaven itself! As long as you are here, even if they must sacrifice their lives, they will not hesitate!"

The terror on Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's face gradually turned into a pallid expressionlessness.

Clearly, fierce changes were occurring deep within Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's heart.

One warrior after another fell dead on the grasslands.

The Oirat encirclement tightened continuously.

Hearing Hearing Bayan Temür's brows also knitted together incessantly.

"Brother! This Great Ming Emperor is not leaving!"

"There must be an ambush!"

Esen stood rooted to the spot, his expression grave.

How could he not know that the reason Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen stood there was surely because a large army lay in ambush behind him?

However, more than half of Zhang Fu's subordinates were already dead or wounded.

It would not take long.

Soon, he would be able to capture the Great Ming Emperor alive!

A gambler's mentality instantly arose within Esen's heart.

Even though Esen had already anticipated all of this,

he could not avoid the thought of going all in!

Just a little bit more.

It was clearly just a little bit more!

Even if he did not wager all his chips,

allowing such a young Great Ming Emperor to return,

how could there ever be peace on the grasslands!

Esen, mounted on his horse, gritted his teeth and growled,

"Bring all the troops over! Today, no matter what, this little emperor must not return alive!"

"Yes!"

The troops Zhang Fu had brought had already been whittled down to fewer than a thousand through battle.

A casualty rate exceeding fifty percent!

If Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen were not on the battlefield,

these two thousand men would have already scattered like birds and beasts!

But even so, Zhang Fu vaguely felt that if they continued to grind on like this, within half an hour at most, the battle would collapse on the grasslands.

It was precisely at this critical moment

that Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, who had been terrified and wailing, suddenly stopped crying.

"Your Majesty...?"

Zhang Fu turned back in confusion, only to find Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's jaw dropped nearly to the ground in astonishment.

Following Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's gaze,

a cloud of dust rose in the distance on the grasslands, blotting out the sun and sky.

Countless Tatar cavalry, stretching from earth to sky, galloped swiftly toward Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen's position.

Esen

had gone all in!

Esen knew what Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen was waiting for.

Precisely because Esen knew, he had resolved completely that Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, this major threat to his heart, must not return alive to the Central Plains!

This might be Esen's only opportunity.

For the sake of future generations on the grasslands,

Esen had no choice but to go all in!

This was an open strategy!

In the distance, Esen, holding a saber in his hand, slowly aimed it at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen far away.

Then, he squeezed a single word through clenched teeth:

"Kill!"

The Oirat cavalry behind him immediately echoed in unison.

"Kill!"

Just as tens of thousands of Oirat horsemen were about to trample Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen into minced meat.

Dust suddenly billowed up behind Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen and on both flanks of the Oirat forces.

The Left and Right Guards, the Three Thousand Camp, the Divine Machine Camp, and the Five Army Camp appeared almost simultaneously.

Seeing the Ming troops suddenly emerge, Esen, whose face had been gloomy, felt an immense burden lift from his shoulders.

He had guessed correctly.

Everything unfolded exactly as he had anticipated.

As long as he could slay Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, he would win, even if these tens of thousands of men were utterly annihilated!

Seeing the Great Ming reveal its final trump card, Esen could not help but laugh aloud to the heavens.

He then raised the saber in his hand high above his head and shouted loudly before the myriad armies:

"Sons, the Han Chinese child emperor is right ahead; kill!"

"Kill!"

"Hahaha~! Child Emperor, I am coming!"

Just as Esen was laughing wildly without cease.

Esen suddenly noticed that beside the child emperor Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen, an old general riding a white horse had appeared at some point.

Zhang Fu and Fan Zhong guarded his left and right.

Even Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Qizhen followed behind that old general.

That face.

Esen would never forget it until the day he died.

If it was not Zhu Di, then who could it be!

Esen's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

At this moment, Zhu Di's face was already filled with contempt.

He drew the sword from his waist without hesitation.

He declared sternly:

"The Ming Army is mighty!"

One hundred thousand Ming soldiers immediately shouted in unison:

"The General is mighty!"

"The Ming Army is mighty!"

"Long live the Emperor, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"